BATON ROUGE - An effort to let Louisiana gun owners carry concealed firearms without a permit has been rejected by a House committee.

Rep. Barry Ivey, a Baton Rouge Republican, met unanimous disapproval Wednesday with no discussion from the House criminal justice panel, stalling his proposals.

His primary proposal pushed for a state constitutional amendment to legalize "constitutional carry." Ivey says the amendment would align Louisiana with 10 other states with similar laws.

The panel also stalled a second bill that Ivey says has the same intent to remove concealed carry from the state's illegal carrying of weapons statute.

Permit supporters say the bill would remove public safeguards and allow dangerous people access to guns. Ivey says his bills protected against those concerns.